Throughout this application various publications are referred to in parentheses. Full citations for these references may be found at the end of the specification. The disclosures of these publications are hereby incorporated by reference in their entirety into the subject application to more fully describe the art to which the subject invention pertains.
Hantaviruses are members of the family Bunyaviridae of enveloped viruses with segmented negative-sense RNA genomes. While hantaviruses maintain persistent infections in their rodent, shrew, or bat hosts without apparent disease symptoms, the spillover of these viruses into humans can lead to one of two serious illnesses—hantavirus pulmonary syndome (HPS) (in the New World) and hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome (HFRS) (in Asia and Europe). Nephropathia epidemica (NE) is a milder form of HFRS endemic to Scandinavia and northern Europe. Intrusion of humans and their domestic animals into sylvatic environments, and other anthropogenic disturbances to natural systems, such as climate change, likely account for the increased frequency of zoonotic hantavirus outbreaks. Mortality from HPS and HFRS have reached 60% and 12%, respectively, in some outbreaks. Treatment is currently limited to supportive care—there are no approved vaccines or therapeutics to treat HPS/HFRS. Sin Nombre virus (SNV) and Andes virus (ANDV) are responsible for the majority of morbidity and mortality in the New World due to HPS. Hantaan virus (HTNV), Seoul virus (SEOV), Puumula virus (PUUV), and Dobrava virus (DOBV) account for most of the HFRS cases in the Old World.
The present invention addresses the need for methods and assays for treating subjects infected with hantaviruses or who are at risk for infection with hantaviruses.